PHILADELPHIA -- The Eagles played an imperfect game and left with an imperfect record.
Costly turnovers, poor third-down defense, and two significant questionable missed calls led to the Eagles suffering their first loss of the season, a 32-21 misstep against the Washington Commanders.
The 8-1 Eagles still lead the NFC East, but just by one game ahead of the New York Giants.
Here’s our analysis of the game:
Frustrating fumbles
Two fumbles, one more egregious than the other, killed two promising fourth-quarter drives by the Eagles.
The first came from Dallas Goedert, although his miscue can be excused some. The tight end was grabbed by the face mask and shaken up afterward. The officials reviewed the fumble, but league rules preclude refs from adding penalties, even ones as obvious as the face mask on Goedert, after the fact.
Washington got three points off of the turnover and missed call, putting the Eagles down, 26-21. The following series for the Eagles offense, quarterback Jalen Hurts hit Quez Watkins for a 51-yard gain. One catch: Washington cornerback Benjamin St-Juste, chasing Watkins from behind, punched the ball loose and fellow defensive back Darrick Forrest recovered.
Washington didn’t get any points out of the Watkins turnover, but it cost the Eagles an opportunity to go ahead midway through the fourth quarter.
Costly calls
Goedert’s fumble wasn’t the only questionable call that went against the Eagles.
Washington’s offense faced third-and-7 when Commanders quarterback Taylor Heinicke took a knee with no receivers open and a pass rush bearing down on him. Brandon Graham and Haason Reddick, unable to slow their momentum, barreled into Heinicke, eliciting a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Graham.
The questionable call gave Washington a new set of downs after being dead in the water and essentially ended the game. It’s worth noting that safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was also called for a bang-bang unnecessary roughness penalty for a hit near the sideline earlier in the game.
Keep away
The Commanders’ apparent strategy to control the ball and shorten the game worked as intended.
Washington ran 51 plays to the Eagles’ 19 in the first half. The final tally was 81 Commanders plays to 47 for the Eagles.
Washington’s prolonged drives were spurred by tough runs from rookie running back Brian Robinson, timely throws from Heinicke, and a bevy of third-down miscues from the Eagles defense.
Washington got a 26-yard completion to Terry McLaurin on a third-and-6 in the first quarter that set up a touchdown drive. McLaurin had cornerback Darius Slay playing off coverage with outside leverage and capitalized with a deep crossing route that left Slay out of position. A few plays later, Washington ran a flood concept with McLaurin drawing Slay deep into the end zone and freeing up Jahan Dotson underneath for a 14-yard gain in the red zone.
Effective third-down defense has been a staple of the Eagles’ success this season, but Washington went 9-for-12 on the money down during the first half. The Eagles offense, by comparison, went 2-for-3.
Tui time
In the second game without Jordan Davis, the Eagles almost exclusively used reserve defensive tackle Marlon Tuipulotu as the nose tackle in their odd fronts.
The team used a mixture of Tuipulotu, practice-squad tackle Marvin Wilson, and Javon Hargrave in Davis’ role against the Texans with mixed results. The mixed results continued Monday night with Tuipulotu at the heart of the defense.
Tuipulotu had a handful of nice plays and even recovered a fumble on a Josh Sweat strip sack, but the Eagles run defense continued to struggle without Davis anchoring things. Washington ran for 152 yards and consistently set up third-and-manageable situations on the back of the running game.
A new trail
For the first time all season, the Eagles trailed going into halftime.
Washington kicker Joey Slye hit a 58-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to give Washington a 20-14 lead.
The Eagles started the third quarter with a three-and-out to start the third quarter and Washington responded with a 14-play, 66-yard drive that ended in a field goal to put the Commanders ahead, 23-14.
They eventually turned the tide some with a 12-play, 80-yard drive that led to a fourth-quarter touchdown. Gardner-Johnson tallied his league-leading sixth interception on the next Washington series, but the two fumbles from Goedert and Watkins killed the Eagles’ momentum.
